Fennec's Story
by the wise old owl
Summary: Fennec is just a regular SandWing dragonet, with nothing special or unique about her. Or so she thought. After she goes to Jade Mountain Academy, Fennec soon uncovers something mysterious and even dangerous about herself. Fennec is an animus. But she's not the only one at school. As Fennec fights to keep her sanity, she also struggles with a new enemy, new dangers, and a new crush.
1. Beforeword : Academy Attendants

_I will try to update this story as much and as fast as possible. Keep in mind that I am busy with schoolwork and other things. However, I will try to update at least once or twice a week. I enjoy reading feedback, so together we can make this story great!_

 _Canon characters belong to Tui T. Sutherland. Original characters belong to me._

 _First things first, here is the list of the students attending Jade Mountain Academy at the time of the this story._

* * *

 **JADE WINGLET**

IceWing: Bearberry

MudWing: Anhinga

NightWing: Fortuneseer

RainWing: Jaguar

SandWing: Cobra

SeaWing: Algae

SkyWing: Cardinal

 **GOLD WINGLET**

IceWing: Plover

MudWing: Caiman

NightWing: Darkflame

RainWing: Capybara

SandWing: Cactus

SeaWing: Beluga

SkyWing: Ptarmigan

 **SILVER WINGLET**

IceWing: Wolverine

MudWing: Sediment

NightWing: Shadowwalker

RainWing: Macaw

SandWing: Singe

SeaWing: Otter

SkyWing: Flare

 **COPPER WINGLET**

IceWing: Permafrost

MudWing: Quicksand

NightWing: Moongazer

RainWing: Hibiscus

SandWing: Fennec

SeaWing: Cuttlefish

SkyWing: Egret

 **QUARTZ WINGLET**

IceWing: Caribou

MudWing: Gravel

NightWing: Earthshaker

RainWing: Okapi

SandWing:Coyote

SeaWing: Dolphin

SkyWing: Stratus


	2. Arriving at the Academy

Fennec stared nervously around at all the dragons milling about her.

"Um, I'm not so sure about this," Fennec whispered to the large SandWing beside her.

"Oh, c'mon, sis, it'll be fine. You'll love it, I promise. Just look at all these new dragons to meet! There's tons of them!" He responded cheerfully, bumping his shoulder into hers, making Fennec stumble slightly.

"I know. That's the problem, Tumbleweed," Fennec said, shifting her light yellow talons anxiously.

"Oh, don't worry about it. I promise, you'll love it. Whelp, I had better get going. I'll try and visit, I promise. Remember, have fun, and don't be your socially awkward self, got it?" Tumbleweed teased as he spread his beige wings.

Fennec felt slight panic rising in her chest.

"No, wait, can't you stay just a little longer?"

"Sorry, sis, but I gotta fly! Lots of things to take care of. Enclave stuff, ya know?" He said as he took to the sky.

 _No, I don't know! I don't know anything about the Enclave - you haven't told me a single thing except that you're a part of it!_ Fennec thought, slightly rebelliously, as her older brother began to wing away.

"Great. Now I'm all alone in a foreign place with foreign dragons. Now what?" She muttered to herself, twisting her satchel in her front talons. The small, camel leather bag was given to Fennec by her mother before she was killed by some SeaWings in the War of the SandWing Succession. Fennec herself had never met their mother - she was only an egg when Javelina had been killed. Tumbleweed had been twelve, and before their mother left to go fight in the battle in which she had been killed, she had told Tumbleweed to give the bag to Fennec, and to protect his younger sister with his life if anything happened to her.

Which Tumbleweed had done, since something _had_ happened to Javelina. Fennec, who wished everyday that she could have at least glimpsed her mother once, carried the satchel around everywhere, and basically treated it like an idol. When she wasn't wringing it in her talons - which she did when she was upset or excited - she wore it slung across her pale sandy neck. In it, she had an agate stone and a spare piece of paper and ink, just in case she needed to write something down. She usually carried other knicks and knacks, but she had emptied it for school supplies.

"Oh, sorry, excuse me."

An alien voice and someone bumping into her pulled Fennec out of her thoughts. She turned her frilled head to see an aquamarine SeaWing dragonet walking past her. He was slightly plump, but in an eye-appealing, pleasant way. He had slightly droopy, lime green eyes and short legs.

"Oh, no, you're fine," Fennec replied after quickly assessing him.

"Um, do you, know where we go?" He asked, his voice slightly sheepish. "I've never done this kind of thing before."

"Yeah, this way," Fennec replied, acting like she knew exactly what she was doing. _This dragon needs someone confident_ , she thought. His nervous voice and the way he held his head clearly showed that he was anxious about starting anything new.

Fennec led the way, following the crowd into a large cave. She curled her barbed tail into a tighter circle as the other dragons pressed in around her. She heard the SeaWing's flappy, wet talon steps behind her as she headed through the cave.

In the center of the cavern was a purpley-black NightWing. Fennec recognized her immediately from the white scales on her ankle and behind her eyes. Fatespeaker was pretty well-known throughout Pyrrhia. Not as acknowledged as the five prophecy dragonets, but still.

"Okay, everyone, if you'll just form a single-file line!" Fatespeaker hollered over the din of the chattering dragonets. After a few minutes, the thirty-five dragonets formed a loppy line. Not straight enough to be called a line, though, really.

Fennec ended with a spot near the back of the 'line', with the SeaWing behind her. She was just fine with standing in silence, but it seemed that the SeaWing had other plans.

"I'm Cuttlefish," he said, breaking the silence. "What's your name?"

"Fennec," she replied shortly.

"What do your parents do?" He asked her. "Mine are just commoners who own a fish marketplace. We're actually one of the best-selling markets in the Deep Palace," he boasted, slightly puffing out his sky-blue underbelly.

"My mother's dead, and I never knew my father," Fennec said flatly.

"Oh." He looked taken back by her reply, and little ashamed that he had brought that up. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. My mother died in the war. She was killed by…" She trailed off, and suddenly realized who she was talking to. How had she forgotten her phobia of SeaWings? In Possibility, where she and Tumbleweed lived, she tried to avoid SeaWings as much as possible. Fennec was deathly afraid of the water dragons, especially adults. Tumbleweed constantly teased her for her fear, but Fennec didn't care. They had killed her mother, and maybe her father, and they could kill her.

But this dragon seemed so…harmless. His droopy features and quiet voice made him seem so innocuous.

"Oh." Cuttlefish whispered, looking down at his webbed talons. "I get it. She was killed by SeaWings, wasn't she? In the war."

Fennec nodded, feeling the somber mood penetrate all the way through her scales. Luckily, a dragon behind them saved her from saying anything else as the SkyWing hollered, "Hey, quit holding up the line! Move it!"

Cuttlefish jumped and scrambled forward, pushing Fennec along with his front talons. They caught up with the MudWing in front of them and stopped. Fennec peered around the sides of the dragonets - since she wasn't tall enough to see over them- and saw that there were only four dragons left in front of them: a glittery IceWing, a haughty NightWing, an excited RainWing, and the smiley MudWing ahead of Fennec.

"We're almost there," Fennec told Cuttlefish.

Finally, they made up to Fatespeaker, who was looking a little tired.

"This year's dragonets are really talkative, let me tell you that. I FORESEE that this is going to a rambunctious and crazy year," Fatespeaker said as Fennec and Cuttlefish approached her. "Ah, Fennec and…Cuttlefish, right? I've been practicing to memorize everyone's names. So far I've only messed up once - just on a SkyWing named Flare. Accidentally called her Pear. Anyways, here's your scroll, Fennec -" Fatespeaker handed her a crisp roll of parchment - "And yours, Cuttlefish. Fennec, your cave is the third on the left, and Cuttlefish, yours is on the right."

"Um, what one on the right? The first one?" Cuttlefish asked, swishing his tail nervously as he tried to understand the directions.

"Oh, the third on the right, silly. Isn't that just fabulous? You guys have caves right across from each other! I TOTALLY saw a vision of you two becoming friends - just ask Starflight, he'll tell you. Anyways, hope you all have a great time!" Fatespeaker hurried them along with that last sentence, and the two started down the hall.

"Well, that's kind of cool. Us having caves parallel to each other, I mean," Fennec said to Cuttlefish. He nodded in reply with a cheerful smile.

"Yeah. Well, see you tomorrow?" He said.

"Yeah, see ya, Cuttlefish," Fennec said in farewell before turning left to go into her cave.

Fennec walked into the opening, peering around with onyx eyes. The room was big enough to hold a gathering of about seven adult dragons, with just a little room to spare. On the left wall were three bookshelves, all of them mostly empty. Small blocks of wood were sitting atop of them, and Fennec walked closer to investigate.

The blocks of wood had names carved into them, assigning a bookshelf to each of the dragonets that would be staying in the cave. Fennec's bookshelf was in the middle. Someone named Quicksand - as the block of wood said - was on the right, while a dragonet named Hibiscus had the shelf on the left.

 _Hmm. Hibiscus - ninety percent sure that that's a RainWing. Quicksand could be a MudWing or a SandWing name, really. Guess we'll see,_ Fennec thought as she studied the names.

She continued onward, moving past the bookshelves and assessing the rest of the room. On the back wall were three beds. One was a pit in the floor that was filled with white sand. Fennec guessed that that one was most likely for her. Another one was a hammock that was hanging from two stalactites on the ceiling, while the third was a stone tub-looking basin that was top-full of steaming mud.

 _Well, that answers that question, then_. Fennec was now positive that her third clawmate was going to be a MudWing.

Fennec walked over to the sand pit and stepped in. It went deeper than it had looked at first, and the sand went up to her elbows. But then again, Fennec wasn't exactly a big dragon, and quite small for her size, so it was probably intended to go half-way up the forearm.

She lay down, curling up into a ball and resting her chin on the outside of the pit. The warm sand felt relaxing against her pale scales, and Fennec sighed in content. Her eyelids began to droop, and a few moments later, Fennec was fast asleep.


	3. Meeting the Winglet

Fennec opened her eyes blearily to see two large blue orbs looming in front of her face. Fennec yelped and leaped back, spraying sand out of the pit and onto the cavern floor.

"Yay, you're awake! Finally! It's been AGES. Breakfast is almost over, so if you want to eat before our first class starts, you better hurry. I'm SO excited, aren't you? Oooh, I just can't wait to meet the rest of our winglet! Quicksand left for breakfast already - her siblings came by and picked her up so they could eat together. I'm Hibiscus, by the way." A slender RainWing was sitting at the front edge of Fennec's sand pit, her scales vibrant pink with swirls of yellow-orange and sky-blue marching across them. It took Fennec a second to process the large amount of words coming out of the dragonet's mouth before she could respond.

"Oh. It's nice to meet you, Hibiscus. I'm Fennec," she replied, composing herself as she stepped out of her bed. "So, do you know where the prey center is, then? Is there a map or anything at all?"

"Oh, yeah, I had Starflight show me around earlier. He's great, by the way. Love him to death. But anyways, just follow me. The gong should be going off in about five minutes, so then we can go to class. Our first class is in the music room; that class is set aside so that we can all get to know each other stuff, since we'll be spending the rest of the year together. Three moons, I'm excited, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I guess," Fennec said slowly as she followed the bouncing RainWing out of their room and into the hallway. She led the way down the tunnel and into a huge cavern. It was chalk-full of dragonets and prey, and the far side opened up to the sky.

"Ooh, look, there's Quicksand and her siblings," Hibiscus said as she pointed to a group of MudWings eating and talking cheerfully to each other. "Isn't that neat, that all of her brothers and sisters could come? They took up all the MudWing slots, but Clay and Sunny and the others don't mind. Starflight told me that was Clay's idea to bring a whole group siblings here when he was showing me around the place. He said that if this works out really well, they're going to try and do it for the rest of the time Jade Academy is still standing." Hibiscus rambled on as they approached a pile of prey. Fennec grabbed a rattlesnake and a bobcat before following the chattering Hibiscus over to a spot by the left wall.

As Fennec bit off a portion of the snake, Hibiscus stopped talking and recoiled in disgust.

"Oh, gross. I can't believe that you other tribes seriously eat that stuff. Meat - gross. Yuck," she said, wrinkling her magenta snout in distaste.

Fennec shrugged. "I don't know how you can live on just fruits. I understand carrots and stuff - roots actually aren't _that_ bad. And I like prickly pears. But a diet consisting of just plants? No thanks."

A gong sounded somewhere far off, echoing through the tunnels and into the prey center.

"Ooh, it's time to go meet our clawmates! Come on, let's go, let's go, LET'S GO!" Hibiscus grabbed Fennec's forearm and pulled her towards the cave exit. Fennec dropped her breakfast and stumbled after the skipping RainWing, who led her down a tunnel filled with orange light globes.

Finally, they staggered into a large room. All sorts of unique instruments were scattered all over the room. A few dragons were already in the room, waiting for everyone else. Fennec spotted a dark orange SkyWing, a timid looking NightWing, and -

"Cuttlefish!" Fennec exclaimed as she spotted the soft turquoise SeaWing. His head turned her direction as she called out, and he recognized her immediately, his lime eyes lighting up when he saw her.

"Fennec!" He bounded over to her on webbed talons, smiling. "This is great! We're in the same winglet!"

Before Fennec could reply, however, Hibiscus butted her way in.

"HI THERE! I'm Hibiscus! What's your name? Well, I guess we'll introduce ourselves later, but still. Who do you think will be our teacher? Or supervisor, I should say, I guess."

"Oh - uh - um," Cuttlefish stuttered, staring nervously at the brightly-colored RainWing.

"Hibiscus, this is Cuttlefish, my friend. And guessing by the room we were assigned, I'd put my riches on Sunny, or even maybe Fatespeaker, if she's a teacher, or whatever it's called," Fennec told her.

"Nice to meet you, Cuttlefish! What is that, by the way?" Hibiscus asked, cocking her orange and pink head and pointing to an ink marking on his shoulder.

He opened up his mouth to splutter out an answer, but before he could, the sound of someone approaching made him stop.

Everyone in the room turned to look at the entrance. In walked a large, svelte IceWing, his scales glittering in the light from the colored globes. His scales were light blue, like ice, while his underbelly and wings shone like one of the moons. His claws were lethally sharp, and his cold eyes were the color of the ocean. He looked at all of the dragonets with a cool expression before striding over to a far corner.

After the IceWing, only about a tail-length behind him, came the MudWing that Hibiscus had shown Fennec at the prey center. She was big, but strong, and looked like she could be really fast in the air. Her armor scales were a medium brown, while her underscales were an ambery-yellow, with flecks of black and dark brown scattered throughout her scales. Her wings and eyes were dark brown, and her luminaries were looking around at all the dragons staring at her.

"Am I late?" She asked in a voice that Fennec thought was kind of deep for a female.

"Nope! Our teacher still hasn't come yet - Oh, look, there she is! Hey, you were right, Fennec! It _is_ Sunny!" Hibiscus pointed to the next dragon to walk in, and indeed it was Sunny.

The NightWing-SandWing hybrid walked in, a worried and apologetic look on her golden face.

"I'm so sorry, everyone, for coming here so late. There were…some issues that happened elsewhere in the school that needed my attention. No matter, let's start. Everyone, let's form a circle, and then we can introduce ourselves and get on with the activities I planned." Sunny walked over to the center of the room, which was cleared of instruments, and sat down. Everyone did as she instructed, forming a semicircle around Sunny. Fennec sat down by Cuttlefish, who was located on her right, while the pusillanimous NightWing seated himself on her left. The IceWing, who was sulking in the corner, heaved himself to his talons and shambled over to them. Sunny waited for him to take his seat before speaking up.

"Okay, I'll start, so that you guys have an example to follow. Basically, just say your name, a nickname if you have one, your age, and something interesting about you, like your favorite hobby or scroll or something. Right. I'm Sunny, one of the school founders. Um, I'm about thirteen years old, and my mother is Queen Thorn, the queen of the SandWings. Now we'll just go in order. "

Hibiscus, who was sitting on the left of Sunny, perked up and turned a vibrant orange with white swirls.

"Hi everybody! I'm Hibiscus! I'm four years old, I love mangoes, and I LOVE meeting new dragons! So I am SO excited to get to know you all!" She beamed cheerfully at them, her azure eyes sparkling.

"Thank you, Hibiscus. Next." Sunny said, her voice sounding a little tired.

"I'm Quicksand," started the MudWing slowly in that same, deep voice. "I'm five and half years old, and all of my brothers and sisters - Caiman, Anhinga, Gravel, and Sediment - are all here as the other MudWing attendants."

"Thanks for the introduction, Quicksand. We're glad to have you here," Sunny said nicely. Turning to the IceWing, she said, "Well? Permafrost? Are going to introduce yourself?"

The dazzling IceWing sighed before saying, "I'm Permafrost."

"Yes?" Said Sunny, trying to drag more out of him.

He scowled slightly, then replied, "I'm seven years old. My favorite thing to do when I have free time is to weld jewelry and stuff."

For the first time, Fennec noticed the silver armband around his ankle that was studded with lapis lazuli gemstones and the silver bands winding up his horns like snakes curling around a stone in the desert.

"And?" Asked Sunny, looking for more.

"And I like to carve ice sculptures," he finished. "There. Happy?"

"Yep! Who's next?" Sunny asked.

Cuttlefish gulped as Sunny's gray-green gaze landed on him. Fennec gave him an encouraging smile, which seemed to help, because he then said in only a slightly shaky voice, "I'm Cuttlefish. I guess you could call me Cuttle if you really felt like it…" He trailed off, and Fennec flashed him another friendly smile. "I'm almost six years old, and my favorite food is squid." He sat back down, looking relieved that he was now done speaking in front of all these strangers.

 _Oh, that's me_ , Fennec thought before standing up.

"My name's Fennec. I'm six years old, and…" She paused, thinking for a moment. She didn't really having anything interesting about her at all, really. Maybe she could say that? " _And I have nothing special or unique about me at all. The end."_ But somehow she didn't think that Sunny would like that very much.

"And I'm named after a type of desert fox for my small size." She decided to go with that. Just a little fun fact about her naming.

"Thank you, Fennec. Moongazer, you're next," Sunny dipped her head appreciatively to Fennec before turning her gaze to the Nightwing beside Fennec.

He stayed sitting down, his purple eyes downcast as he stared at his talons.

"I'm Moongazer. I'm nearly seven years old. And since Moonwatcher - the dragon I'm named after, actually - decided to make NightWing powers known to the rest of the tribes again after defeating the Darkstalker with her winglet, I can read minds."

A small murmur went around the circle, but Sunny didn't seem bothered by this news at all.

"Oh, another mind reader. We have skyfire rocks if you want one. In fact, skyfire rocks are available to all students who want one. You can ask Starflight for one in the library once you get the chance," she announced, unfazed. "Last, but not least," she said, looking at the grumpy, orange SkyWing sitting between her and Moongazer.

"I'm Egret," he said in an unhappy, I-don't-want-to-be-here voice. "I'm eight years old. I like fighting and I wish there was another war so I could do that instead."

Sunny looked taken aback by his response, as if that was the craziest idea in the world. "Well," she started. "I guess we all have our different likes and wishes. I _did_ have a get-to-know-you activity planned, but I don't think we have enough time for it today. Your guys' next class will be with Webs - he teaches history." A few groans came from the dragonets gathered. "I know, I know, but history is important, and you have to have that class sometime. Anyways, Fatespeaker should be ringing the gong any minute no-"

Just then, right on cue, came the three sounds from the main cavern.

"Okay, off you go. Have fun! Remember, you guys will always be together, since you're a winglet. So if you notice someone from your winglet is missing, please tell one of the founders!" She called after them as everyone stood up and left.

Fennec and Cuttlefish walked out together, and luckily Hibiscus had decided to skip along Quicksand. It wasn't like she didn't like the RainWing - she was just _too_ hyper and loud and enthusiastic.

"I know what you mean."

Moongazer's voice behind them made Fennec and Cuttlefish jump and whip around. The NightWing seemed unfazed that he had startled them, and was eying Permafrost with concern and fear.

 _Curious. I'll have to look into that_ , she thought, but said aloud, "Three moons, you scared me. And you shouldn't do that, you know. It's kind of creepy."

"Oh, sorry. But yeah, my sister is like that - so enthusiastic and energetic it's disgusting. And, quite frankly, obnoxious."

Cuttlefish shivered. "Can you see what I'm thinking right now?" He asked in a timid voice.

"Yeah. You're thinking about all the nightmare dragons that you've heard about, and even ones that you've just made up just now. Wow, that is a _lot_ of monsters," Moongazer said, looking the SeaWing up and down with slight worry, as if he was concerned for Cuttlefish's mental health.

Two gongs sounded, and they continued walking.

Fennec paused, then imagined a thorny barrier, pretending to wrap it around her mind like a cactus protecting the water harvested inside of it.

 _There. I don't know if that will work or not, but until I can get skyfire, it'll have to do_ , she thought. _Now what does this dragon know about Permafrost? Something personal…_

 _Or dangerous?_


	4. History Class and Analyses

_Hey, readers! Hope you are enjoying the story so far! Tell me what I need to fix, and if you're confused on anything. I enjoy reading your feedback, and hopefully you enjoy the story!_

* * *

Fennec briskly walked down to the history cave with the rest of her winglet. Cuttlefish stayed by her side the whole time, looking a bit more cheerful than usual, while Fennec tried to keep the barrier around her mind. Her thoughts remained on Moongazer and Permafrost as she tried to figure out what to make of them.

It was clear that Moongazer was afraid of Permafrost. But Fennec could also see that he was the meek, timid type that was afraid of most dragons. He also had slight black stains on his front claws, so Fennec was pretty sure that he was one of those scrolly dragons. The NightWing also had the trademark teardrop scales behind his eyes, marking him as a dragon with powers.

 _I wonder who else here has NightWing powers,_ Fennec thought. She shook her head, clearing it. _I'll worry about that later_.

She moved on to the next issue at hand: Permafrost. The IceWing - in her opinion, anyways - had nothing wrong with him besides the fact that she didn't know him. His mention of being a jeweler and a sculptor had intrigued her. Not to mention that he must be a lethal fighter. And - she couldn't deny herself this fact - he _was_ good-looking.

 _I need to find out his secrets_. _But how?_

Until then, she could assess the rest of the winglet.

Hibiscus was too…childish to be anything worth mentioning. She was innocent, besides being guilty of being a little too obnoxious. And too brightly colored. Fennec much prefered the glittery ice-blue of Permafrost or the soft aquamarine of Cuttlefish.

Fennec didn't know much about Quicksand, except that they slept in the same cave and her siblings were here.

 _But there_ must _be something special about her. She was named 'Quicksand' for a reason._

Fennec paused for minute, glancing down at Cuttlefish. He was looking ahead, admiring all the glass globes that lighted the tunnel.

"Cuttlefish," she said quietly. "I need your help with something. Let's slow down so we can be in the back."

He looked puzzled, but just shrugged before slowing his steps as Fennec did. They fell back, letting Moongazer and Egret pass in front of them. Once they were a tail-length behind the rest of the winglet, Fennec continued.

"What do you make of Quicksand? I'm sure she was named that for a reason. Quicksand - you know, the mud, not the dragonet - kills hundreds of animals every year, and even a few unfortunate dragons. Do you think that she could be dangerous?"

Cuttlefish looked startled that she had even thought of or suggested this, as if every dragon in the whole world could be a cuddly teddy bear with nothing wrong with them.

"Um, I don't know. Maybe for the yellow scales and the speckles. That's what I thought. They're kinda cool looking, you know? Almost like yours, but a little more brown." He suggested, looking her scales up and down while comparing them with Quicksand's.

"Oh. I guess. I never thought about _that_ before," Fennec replied, and little disappointed. She was looking forward to more mysteries to uncover and solve. _Well, I still have Moongazer and Permafrost, I guess_. But she still didn't really find anything wrong with the IceWing, even though it was obvious that Moongazer was terrified of him.

 _Maybe they're clawmates, and Permafrost threatened to do something to Moongazer. That could be it. Like, 'If you read my mind one more time, I'll rip your face off.' That totally could be it. I'm a little tempted to do that myself, really. Hopefully this cactus barrier has been working, otherwise that NightWing will know exactly what is going on, and he could hide secrets and information that I need to figure this whole thing out. Hmmm,_ suddenly an idea popped into her head.

 _If I could get close to both of them, that could help me claw some things out of them_.

Before, however, she could tell Cuttlefish about her plans, they had reached the history cave. _Has it really only been a few minutes? It feels like hours, or even days,_ Fennec thought to herself as they walked inside.

A huge map was hanging on one of the walls, the most detailed map of Pyrrhia that Fennec had seen. In the center of the cave, sitting on a rocky ledge that jutted out from the far wall, sat a large, green-blue SeaWing. He looked tired and bored, and like he would rather be napping or eating. He had a long scar running down his tail that caught Fennec's attention.

 _I wonder where he got that_ , she thought while the dragon introduced himself.

"I am Webs," he said a monotone, I-don't-want-to-be-here, and I'm-full-of-boring-information-that-no-one-cares-about voice. "I am your history instructor, and today we will start all the way back to the Scorching. By the end of this week, I would like to be at the birth of Queen Diamond, the mother of the infamous Prince Arctic. At the end of each class, I will allow time for questions. Now, let's begin."

He began droning on and on, and Fennec found it hard to pay attention.

When she glanced over, she saw that Cuttlefish was half-asleep, his eyes green slits and a slight snoring sound emitting from his snout.

"Psst," she whispered out of the corner of her mouth. The sudden sound made Cuttlefish jolt awake and look around widly.

"Wa-huh? I wasn't asleep!" He exclaimed loudly, looking suddenly alert. Webs paused in his lecture and glared down at the SeaWing dragonet. Everyone else in the room turned their heads to look at Cuttlefish, and he smiled weakly and shrank slightly under all the eyes trained on him.

Webs sniffed before continuing, and Fennec turned back to face Cuttlefish.

"So," she started, whispering quietly. "Can I really call you Cuttle?" She asked, referring to their previous class.

"What? Oh, yeah, sure, if you want. That's what my mom calls me. I'm an only hatchling, so I get a lot of attention." His plump figure swelled a little as he filled with pride at the thought of his family.

Fennec felt a slight hole open in her heart as she thought of her family. She had never known her father, her mother was dead, and her only brother was part of a mysterious group and was hardly ever home. And she was now in a strange new place, with only a leather bag and a rock to remind her of home.

Rocks.

Speaking of which, she badly needed to get one of those skyfire rocks from Starflight. Maybe after class she could get Hibiscus to show her where the library was. It would be annoying to have to have the talkative RainWing take her, but it would be worth it if she could keep her thoughts to herself.

After waiting for what seemed like weeks for the class to be over, Webs finally stopped talking and ended with a few questions. The only dragon who asked any was Moongazer, who had looked engrossed the whole time the lesson was taking place.

Finally, the three gongs rang through the tunnels, and Fennec stood up.

"Hey, I'm going to the library to pick something up. Wanna come?" She asked Cuttlefish - or Cuttle now, for short - , who was blinking his bleary eyes and yawning.

"Oh, yeah, sure, why not. I also kind of want to get one of those fancy rocks that Sunny was talking abo-"

Fennec cut his sentence off as she clamped his snout shut with her talons.

"Shhh. I don't want Moongazer to know what we're doing. Or anyone, really. Just pretend that you're going to get a book about shellfish or something."

"How about squid? Those are much better than shellfish. Those things are much too tough and muscle-y," he replied, wrinkling his snout.

Fennec rolled her dark eyes. "Sure, whatever you want. Come on, let's go get Hibiscus before disappears into Dreamland or Wonderland or whatever, in her crazy fantasies that she has." She started over to where the RainWing was chattering happily with Quicksand, who looked almost as happy as she did as when she was with her siblings. Cuttle followed behind her, though a bit more slowly.

Fennec stopped as she reached the pair.

"Hey, Hibiscus. Would you mind showing me where the library is? Cuttle and I want to go check some things out," she said to the RainWing, trying to sound as innocent and cheerful as possible.

"YEAH! Of course! C'mon, Quicksand, you can come, too!"

Fennec felt a little stab of disappointment and frustration at this, but she kept the bright smile on her face. "Great! Well, let's go before the next class starts."

"Oh, didn't you hear? Webs said that there's a free period next, so we can tour around and get to know where things are," Hibiscus told her.

"Oh, no, I didn't hear that. Thanks for the information," Fennec said. _How did I miss something a RainWing caught?_

 _Oh, right sorry. Three moons, I've got to be nicer to this tribe._

"Well, what are we waiting for! Let's go, let's go, let's go!" Hibiscus bounded off, and Quicksand smiled and followed after the other dragonet. Fennec glanced at Cuttlefish, who returned her skeptical, I-hope-this-a-good-idea look before they set off, trailing after the other two.

Fennec sped up a little and caught up to Quicksand.

"So…why do you like Hibiscus so much?" She asked the MudWing. "I mean, it's not like I have anything against her or anything," she added quickly as Quicksand turned her gaze to look at her. "It's just…draining to be around her. You know?"

Quicksand smiled a small, shy, and sweet smile. "Oh. I don't know. I guess…" She trailed off and looked ahead at the small RainWing, who was doing some kind of dance, jig, skip and walk thing. "I guess she just makes me happy. Makes me smile. She's really nice, and she helps me…well, as Caiman would say, pull me out of my scales."

"Who's Caiman? Are they your sibling?" Fennec asked. This was a good opportunity to get information.

"Yeah, she's my sister. My bigwings. _Our_ bigwings. She's the bravest dragon I know, ans would do anything for us."

"What are you other siblings' names?" Fennec questioned.

"There's Anhinga - he's the second oldest, and the second biggest. Caiman helped him hatch first. He's kind of quiet, like me. But he's really competitive, and he loves doing stuff with Gravel, my other brother. Those two are always goofing around and playing together. And Anhinga is one of the most talented dragons I know - he can do almost anything you can imagine. Then there's Gravel - he's like Anhinga. He's the skinniest one of us all. He's thin and wiry, so he's super fast, especially in midair. And even on the ground, too. Caiman jokes that she should have named him Burrowing Owl, since he's such a fast runner, and he likes to dig. It's really funny."

"Wait," Fennec quickly interrupted before Quicksand could continue. "Caiman named him? I thought that after the war, Clay and the others changed it so that MudWings would raise their hatchlings like all the other tribes."

"Our father and mother were killed by scavengers before we had hatched."

"Really? Then how do you know they were killed? It if happened before your hatching?" That had to be a lie - maybe they _were_ alive and planning something evil, and Quicksand didn't want anyone to know about it.

"Oh, Caiman asked some other dragons about it and they told us. They said they found their bodies near a scavenger den, both impaled with giant spears in their hearts."

Now that sounded genuine. "Three moons, Quicksand, I'm sorry," Fennec said sympathetically. "My mom was killed by a wing of SeaWings during the war. But anyways, continue with your sibling stories."

Quicksand smiled, then continued. "After Gravel is Sediment. She's the youngest of us all, and the funniest. She tells jokes all the time - she can make anyone laugh, even a NightWing or an IceWing. She's really sweet, and empathetic, and she does her best to help anyone she can. She's always full of hope for the better, and you can never shake her faith."

Fennec looked at Quicksand, with a content, faraway look on her face, as if she was imagining all the times she had spent with her siblings.

 _I think this is the most I've ever heard Quicksand talk before at one time,_ Fennec thought. _But I guess now I know she hasn't done anything._ If Caiman had named them all, then she had most likely just done it based on appearances. She wouldn't name her little sister something sinister so that she would grow up to be like that someday.

 _Or maybe she has. I'll have to look into the bigwings. Maybe Quicksand isn't evil, but Caiman could be._

Suddenly, Fennec wondered why she was so intent on finding out the darkness in all the dragons at the Academy. She didn't know why - she just knew that a feeling in her gut told her to solve a mystery, even though she didn't know what that mystery was yet.

But she felt something sinister and menacing was lurking just beyond her grasp.


	5. Just a Nightmare

Fennec woke up that morning with a headache. Her dreams had been tortured with dying dragons, and something black and shadowy in the midst of it all. She didn't quite know why - maybe talking to Quicksand yesterday had stirred in thoughts of the war.

Stirring, she sat up and placed a talon her head, closing her eyes. She heard Quicksand and Hibiscus waking up as well, and she shook her head, clearing it, and snapped open her eyes.

"Good morning!" Hibiscus said, much too loudly. Fennec plastered a smile on her face, but she could see that Quicksand's was genuine as the MudWing gazed at the other dragonet.

"Did you sleep well tonight?" Hibiscus asked them

"You mean _last night_ not _tonight_. And no, not really. Not to mention I've got this horrible headache," Fennec said, reaching her talon back up to gingerly touch her head.

"Oh, ouch, that sucks. What about you, Quicksand? We're _your_ dreams amazing? Or horrid?"

Quicksand blushed and quickly looked away. "Oh, uh, I don't know. My dreams are just plain and boring. You wouldn't want to hear about them." The MudWing rumbled.

"Pleeeeeaaase," Hibiscus begged. "I would loooove to!"

But Quicksand was unrelenting. "No. You don't want to hear what they're about, trust me. Just…stuff."

Fennec stood up and left the cave, leaving HIbiscus and Quicksand behind. She wanted to get to see Cuttle and Permafrost.

Yesterday, after a few classes, Fennec had finally worked up the courage to speak to the IceWing. Though they weren't really _friends_ , Fennec was still proud that they were comfortable talking to each other. Or, at least, _she_ was comfortable talking to him. Whether Permafrost was or not, Fennec didn't know.

She found Cuttlefish in the prey center, talking animatedly to a dark green SeaWing.

"Hey, Cuttle!" She called from the entrance. Her friend heard her call, and he quickly excused himself before bounding over to her.

"Who was that?" She asked him as he reached her, eying the unknown SeaWing with a wary glance - she still handy gotten over her fear of the ocean dragons.

"Oh, that was Algae. He's in the Jade Winglet," Cuttle replied with a smile, glancing over his shoulder to look at Algae.

Fennec felt a twinge of jealousy as Cuttle beamed at the other SeaWing admiringly, but she pushed it away.

"What class do we have first?" She asked him, changing the subject to something other than strangers that she didn't know.

"Oh, free time in the music room! It's going to be great, I just know it. There's some instruments in there that are pretty neat - like the drums, and the bass, and…"

Cuttlefish rambled on as they walked down the halls. Fennec now had the academy layout memorized, but she knew that Cuttle felt more confident in himself if he led the way; it made him feel more important, like he knew valuable things and could help others.

So she let him lead onward, and just as Fennec was about to ask him a question, a sharp pain struck the side of her head, making the combined effort of her headache and the new pain feel like her head was imploding. She cried out, crumpling slightly and falling off her talons. Cuttle heard her cry and he turned around, his green eyes wild and afraid.

"Fennec, are you oka-"

Fennec didn't hear the rest of his sentence as everything went black. A moment later, color was restored to her vision, but she was no longer in the tunnel with Cuttle. Instead, she saw herself standing outside in storm a mountain range laid out in front of her. Dragons were all around, running and screaming in terror. Fennec spotted a few familiar faces, but most were foreign to her - just regular, ordinary dragons.

Fleeing for their lives.

In midst of it all, looming high above the mountains, was a dark cloud. Black mist wreathed around the entity, and Fennec felt a wave of icy coldness engulf her.

 _What's going on?_ She tried to scream, but no words came out. She spotted Tumbleweed, his wings on fire, batting them frantically to try and put out the flames. She saw Armadillo, her friend from Possibility, lying dead on the ground, his body limp and black eyes lifeless.

Cuttlefish was screaming for help, his tail stuck under a large boulder that was sent down by the ebony creature. Suddenly, the looming being sent down a ball of blackness, and Cuttle was immersed in the darkness. A moment later, when it cleared, all Fennec saw was a pile of charred bones.

 _NO!_ She screeched silently.

And suddenly, she was lying back in the stone tunnels of Jade Mountain. She blinked open her eyes and saw Cuttle's lime orbs staring back at her, swimming with worry and anxiety.

"Are you okay?" He asked her, helping her to her talons.

"Yeah…yeah, I'm fine," she told him, her voice wavering. "I'm just…shaken up a little bit."

"Are you sure? You just fell, and then you started writhing around on the ground and screaming. I didn't know what to do," he said, his voice laced with concern. "Do…you want to tell me what happened?"

Fennec sighed. _Not really_ , she thought to herself. "I don't know, exactly. I just…got this pain in my head, and then I was somewhere else. Outside, in a thunderstorm. There were dragons all around, and chaos, and dragons dying…" She trailed off as she saw Cuttle's horrified face. "But it was just a dream, or something. Maybe I need more water, or sleep, or -"

"I don't think so." Cuttle interrupted. "I think…nah, it's stupid." He paused, his eyes containing a faraway look. But he blinked, and it was gone, and he turned to her again. "Do you need to go to the hospital wing or something?"

"I think I'm good. Really."

Cuttle shrugged, then continued walking. He stayed close to Fennec's side, as if to make sure that he could catch her if she fell down again. Fennec was glad for the sentiment, but thought that it wasn't really necessary, and was slightly irritated. _I can take care of myself, you know. It was probably just because I didn't get enough sleep last night. I just fell asleep while walking, and then had that nightmare again_ , she told herself. It was the only reasonable explanation.

Right?

* * *

 _Sorry for the long wait and short chapter! I will make the next one longer, and hopefully super exciting!_

 _Any ships so far that you guys have? Just wondering what y'all are thinking of my story so far, and ships are fun to talk about. :)_


	6. A Shocking Surprise

Fennec yawned. It had been a long day. She and her winglet had just finished up another boring history lesson with Webs, and were heading off to their caves. Though her head was pounding, and she was still disoriented from the scenario in the hallway from earlier, Fennec had gotten to know her winglet better.

Permafrost was starting to slowly pull out of his scales. Their first class had been art, and that was when he had really started to shine through. Fennec had conveniently placed herself next to him, and she had started talking to him while he began sculpting. He was a dragon of few words, but she felt like everything he said had a hidden meaning and more to it if you dug deep enough.

Moongazer was amazing in any class, except for art. He was okay at sketching with charcoal, but ask him to paint or carve, and you suddenly had a huge mess and lump of wood or a blobby canvas.

Quicksand was surprisingly good at arithmetic, a new study at the academy. Fennec was okay with numbers, but the MudWing excelled at such great speeds, and could nearly best Moongazer.

Hibiscus and Cuttlefish were the musical types. Cuttlefish could play just about any instrument you handed him, and Hibiscus played a pretty good xylophone and triangle.

Fennec didn't really know what her own strong suit was. She caught on to anything, really, but her art wasn't that good, she was okay with math, and history was extremely dull.

 _Maybe I'll find out later. I_ must _have a talent somewhere. Right?_ She thought as her winglet was heading down the halls to their sleeping caves.

Moongazer and Permafrost broke off, heading left.

"See you later!" Hibiscus hollered at them as they entered their cave. Moongazer returned a nervous smile over his shoulder, and Permafrost nodded in reply before disappearing.

"I guess I better go, too," Cuttlefish said, looking up at Fennec (which wasn't very far, mind you).

"Oh," Fennec said. "You share a cave with them?"

"Yeah."

Fennec felt her heart skip a beat. Maybe she could have Cuttle spy on Permafrost and Moongazer for her at night. It certainly would help. But for now, she was too tired and weary to say anything, and Cuttle looked ready to fall asleep on his talons.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow, then," she told him, hearing Quicksand and Hibiscus enter the cave behind her.

"Yep. See you then," Cuttle replied, yawning.

Fennec turned to leave, but as she did so, one of Quicksand's wings flew up and hit one of the glass globes, causing it to fall. Fennec gasped it fell towards her, and she closed her eyes, bracing herself.

 _Please don't hit me. Please don't hit me. Please don't hit me_ , she thought. After a few moments standing with her muscles bunched and tensed, Fennec opened her eyes. She heard Cuttle let out a scared gasp, and she looked around for any glass shards on the ground.

Nothing.

So she looked up, and she let out a little yelp.

Floating just above her head, as if by some unseen force, was the colored globe. It bobbed slightly up and down, but remained perfectly intact. Roving her dark gaze over to Cuttle, she saw her startled complexion mirrored in his face.

"Um," she started nervously. "Do you know what's happening?"

Cuttle shook his head, then nodded, then did both at the same time, making his head bob and turn in a weird little dance.

"We…should probably find a safe place to talk," he squeaked out after a few moments.

Fennec nodded, agreeing, and the two walked away back down the tunnel.

After a few minutes of silence, Fennec asked, "So, is there something you wanted to say? Or did you just want to walk with me in awkward silence?"

"Um," he glanced nervously at her, as if she might attack him or turn him into a puddle of salt water. "Can I ask you a personal question?"

"Yeah," Fennec said slowly, eying him and down.

"Um, did you ever know your father? I mean, like, do you know who he was?"

"No," Fennec answered. "I hatched after both of my parents were gone. Tumbleweed said that he knew our father, for a short while. When he was three, our dad took off. Javelina - my mom - never knew why. At least, that's what Tumbleweed said."

"Do you know his name? Has your brother said anything about him at all?"

"Not really. I asked Tumbleweed about it once, a while ago. He said that our dad's name was Xerocole, and that he was really big - that's where Tumbleweed got his size. And that he had a big scar running down the side of his face that was kind of scary, but that Tumbleweed admired it because it made our dad look fierce."

"Well -" Cuttle started, then stopped abruptly. "Well, maybe -"

"What?" Fennec asked. "Just spit it out."

"Well…are you sure that he was _your_ dad? I mean, maybe he's just Tumbleweed's and you have a different father. If he disappeared so long before you were even _laid_ , maybe he just isn't your sire"

This had never occurred to Fennec before, and she stopped in her tracks.

"You mean to say…that Tumbleweed and I are only _half-_ siblings?" She asked incredulously.

"Well, yeah. Think about it - it makes perfect sense." He stopped and thought for a moment in silence before asking, "Do you know the circumstances under which you were hatched?"

"Ye-es," Fennec replied slowly. "Tumbleweed said he would never forget it - it was the night he got a sister. I mean, he wanted a brother, but still, he got a sibling. Anyways, he said that the stars were super bright that night, lighting up the whole sky. But he said that the brightest thing was one of the moons - it was full, like a big, huge prickly pear sitting up in the sky and illuminating the entire desert. Why do you ask?"

Cuttle sat there looking like something in his brain had just gone _click._

"Well, that confirms my theory," he said finally, a smile on his aqua face.

"Theory? What theory?" Fennec asked him, puzzled.

"Fennec," he said. "You're half NightWing."


End file.
